Getting paid quickly & in full is important to the survival of your medical practice. We’ve listed the top 4 mistakes that negatively impact your billing & how small tweaks to your policies & staff processes can prevent serious money leaks.    

1. Incorrect or incomplete patient information

Rejected claims are almost always because of incorrect, incomplete, misspelled, or out-of-date patient information. A spike in rejected claims or a consistently high claims rejection rate, could likely be a result of poor patient record keeping.  

The fix
Use the ‘Family Check’ feature in your billing software to verify patient information & ensure that you are using the most current & uptodate patient information to generate claims.  

2. Failure to check patient benefits prior to consult

Patients aren’t typically very good at knowing what their medical aid covers or whether they have funds available. If your staff are not checking patient benefits beforehand, you will find more instances of patients who are unable or unprepared to pay. 

The fix
Automated patient benefit checks integrated into your online calendar means you will immediately know how much a patient will need to pay before they arrive for their appointment. Your staff can use the information to open an early conversation about potential shortfalls with your patients. 

3. PPE & other consumables are not billed for

PPE is now an essential part of any consultation, yet many doctors either forget or deliberately don’t charge for it because they’re worried about the impact it will have on their patients. While no one wants to add financial burden to patients in tough economic times, absorbing these costs can have a significant impact on the day-to-day running of your practice. 

The fix
Setting up & using claim templates allows you to automatically include charges for procedures & consumables so that you don’t have to rely on memory or deliberate about whether to charge at the time of billing. 

4. Incorrect claim codes

If your staff are using the incorrect claim codes, it is often a sign that they haven’t been sufficiently trained. Without the right level of proficiency, knowing which codes to use is time-consuming, frustrating & can mean reduced or missed revenue. 

The fix
Your billing system’s code rules engine should help find the right tariff codes, suggest the best code combinations & add the data to your invoice. Your system should also allow you to set up code templates for frequently used code combinations – making code selection even simpler & more streamlined for your staff. For more about the impact of unclaimed procedures & consumables on your bottom line, click here. 

Healthbridge has been a trusted technology partner to private medical practices for 22 years. For an obligation-free practice health check to show you areas of your practice that are impacting your revenue potential, click here.